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35 weeks
He's on his way!!!
He's on his way!!!
Friday August 8th at 11am was our 35 week appoitment. Just like any other appointment, I laid down on the bed, my doctor did my Group B Test & then started my ultrasound. We had zero fears or worries, only excitement to ask him about our 38 week delivery plan.
He started off measuring Cal's head. I see it measure 36 weeks & realize it will probably hit the abnormal "90%" we have been dreading. I then watched him measure his belly. It came up at 30 weeks. I knew immediately something was wrong. That good old familiar feeling we know so well. My doctor then proceeded to measure it several more times. He finally says out loud, "I'm getting 5 different measurements, and his belly is measuring small. You are going to have a baby today!"
"TODAY???"
"Yea! Today!" he said again sounding happy & excited. Eric was sitting next to me & was having a full blown heart attack at this point.
He went on to explain that Cal has stopped gaining weight and the only way to monitor him & assure weight gain is to get him out. He explained the pros & cons and reassured us he was would perfect, just small. He called it "Growth Restriction" a couple times and explained a couple possibilities. I was completely zoned out during that time & heard only a couple words muttered. My mind was running 100 mph trying to recall any & all information I knew about 35 week gestation babies.
Still in shock we just stood there. I asked if I could at least go home & finish packing my hospital bag. He agreed as long as I could pass my NST monitoring for 20 minutes & we would check into L&D by 3pm.
We passed NST, and ran home. A million phones call & a ton of luggage later, we checked into our room at Kaiser Women's & Childrens.
SO UNREAL!
Little did we know, the craziness was about to ten fold...
We checked in & met our nurses at 2pm. Everyone was, and still is, amazing! Next was a super painful 3 IV attempts. OUCH! Then we waited for what felt like forever. Finally at 5pm a doctor came in. We had a plan! If only we had remembered that NOTHING goes according to plan...
(The following format is the only way I can think to organize the madness that unfolded. Bear with me!)
(The following format is the only way I can think to organize the madness that unfolded. Bear with me!)
Friday, August 8th:
2pm: Checked into hospital. Got IV & everything set up.
5pm: Dr came in, checked my cervix & measure it at 0cm & 50% effaced.
6pm: First oral dose of Miso. Half dose of 50mcg. (A pill used to soften the cervix.)
10pm: Second dose of Miso. 100mcg this time.
Somewhere around Midnight or 1am the doctor came in, checked me at 1cm & let me know that our next step would be a "foley bulb placed in my cervix." I knew it was going to be awful! Feel free to google it. It's a balloon placed & inflated in the cervix to force dilation. Tension is pulled on the excess tube hanging out & taped to the inner thigh. F THAT!
Saturday, August 9th:
1am-8am: Living hell. I proceeded to have nonstop contractions, 1 minute apart for hours, measuring 8/10 on the pain scale, WHILE feeling deathly ill & trying to get up to pee every 20 minutes to relieve all possible pressure. Too early for an epidural so I opted for 100mcg Fentanyl IV every 2 hours. Just enough to reduce my pain to a 7/10. HORRIBLE. The forced dilation of the bulb causes your body to dilated to a 3-4 & then the bulb falls out. Gross right? It was especially fun when the nurses would come in & TUG on the string every couple hours to see if it was still stuck. And it was!!! Dear god save me. Worst night of my life so far!
8am: The bulb FINALLY pulls out with ease. Thank you Jesus. I immediately felt a huge relief of pain & pressure.
9am: It was time to start IV Pitocin at 2mL/min. (Drug that induces labor/contractions.)
9am-11pm: Pitocin is started at a low does to get contractions going, then increased in dose (2mL/min at a time) depending on your body. All day long the Pitocin would cause good contractions for 10-20 minutes, then they would die down and they would increase my dose. So, for about 15 hours, I had consistent contractions about 2-3 minutes. The doctor finally decided to check my cervix again. Before I was 3-4cm after the bulb fell out, and 15 hours later, I was back down to 2 CM!!! THAT'S RIGHT! TWO CM!!! Obviously I freaked out. But there was nothing anyone could do... They let me get up & take a hot shower. Luckily Kaiser's new private birthing rooms also have an amazing private bathroom & shower. Best thing ever. I could have stayed in there forever.
Sunday, August 11th:
Midnight-6am: By now my dose of pitocin was at 20mL/min. The max dose is 30mL/min. I was still having consistent contractions about 1 minute apart. No breaks in between. My nurse was concerned that with my increased amount of contractions, I did not have a huge increased in pain. My uterus was working so hard for so long, that it had grown weak. Can't say I blame it after working nonstop for almost 36 hours... Pure exhaustion. She was an angel & lowered my pitocin to 6ml/min & found a doctor to make a new plan...
8am: My doctor & nurse came in with the new plan I had been desperately waiting for... Until I heard it! The plan was to stop all medications for 24 hours, rest, then start again Monday morning at 8am. Yes, you read that right. Do nothing for 24 hours but sit & wait in agony to start again. I LOST IT!!!! Nonstop tears, begging for a csection, begging for anything but a 24 hours break & restart from the begging. But there was nothing I could do. Their reasons for the break were valid & they had mine & Cal's safety as their number one priority.
*The reasons for the break: The uterus being a muscle was too tired to have strong contractions. Meaning that if I did deliver, it would not be strong enough to contract shut & control the bleeding. They were, and still are, very concerned with the possibility of hemorrhaging after delivery. Their only option then would be an emergency hysterectomy... NO THANKS!
9am: Still crying, they unhooked my monitors & unhooked me from my IV pole & medications. I gladly got dressed & my amazing Eric went to get us a yummy breakfast! We ate breakfast & tried to wrap our heads out this crazy roller coaster.
The rest of the day we spent in our room with a couple close friends & a couple close family members. We have been BEYOND blessed with their never ending love & support from the second we let them know that Baby Cal was on his way. There are no words to describe how amazing each one of them is. Love, support, food, gifts, texts, phone calls & then they do it all over again the next day. We are so grateful & blessed.
Sunday night Eric & I got to shower again, turn on shark week & get a full nights sleep. It was pretty perfect for night 3 in the hospital.
Monday, August 11th:
9:15am: We made it! It was time to start round 2. I was checked again & still 2 cm & 50% effaced. Big shocker. At 9:15am I was given 100mcg of Miso. Deja Vu. Same as before, the miso is suppose to help soften the cervix.
1:30am: 4 hours later & contractions are nothing great, so I was given another 100mcg of Miso. Boo!
So believe it or not, that is how the past 4 days has been! The most unpredictable roller coaster possible. We are still so thankful that Cal is doing PERFECT through all of this. He has been monitored since Friday without one complaint. Such a good tough boy!
Eric has been with me every second & the most amazing support & nurse possible. I can't move 99% of the time & he does anything I ask. Even with all his own stress & emotions to deal with, he's my rock! The best possible person to have by my side. I would die without him.
As for today, we have no idea what it holds. I was promised by my doctor that we can discuss the idea of a cscetion after 12 hours of hard labor today with no changes in my cervix. But currently every other doctor has laughed at me when I mention a c-section. So we have no idea!
As for Baby Cal. His belly is measuring small, his head is measuring big & his femurs are perfect. They checked my placenta several times & it is working perfectly from what they can see. He measured closed to 4lbs 10oz on ultrasound. We are very aware that he will probably spend time in the NICU when he is born. Babies have to be breathing well & weigh 2000 grams or 4lbs 4oz to be able to stay with their mother after birth. But whatever is takes to have a healthy baby boy, we are ready for!
As you all know, it is really overwhelming to get tons of texts & phone calls with the same questions over & over again. So I will try to update & answer as things happen. At some point I will be too tired & you won't hear from us for a bit. But please pray for the three of us to survive this crazy unexpected journey! We can't wait to meet our son & start our new life together as a family!
On my Sunday break, Eric asked what I wanted and I had a random craving for diet coke. Probably just feeling rebellious. So he went to the vending machine & got one. I drank a few sips to satisfy the random craving & then we both noticed the "name" on my coke bottle. Of all the labels they have printed, we got "FAMILY." Best random coincidence all week! :)
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